About the program
Young men from abroad who want to join Israeli society and prepare for the IDF in a Torah setting. The site says most of the program's students make aliyah and enlist.
A pre-army mechina (preparatory yeshiva) in Moshav Naveh in the Chalutza region of the Negev, with an overseas program in which students from abroad live, learn and volunteer alongside Israeli mechina students. The program includes daily Hebrew classes aimed at joining the regular Hebrew program, a traditional curriculum of Talmud, Jewish philosophy, Mishna and Halacha, lectures and field trips around the country, and preparation for army service. In its own words, students "explore the meaning of Eretz Israel, Am Israel and a life of Torah in the modern Jewish state."
The facts
- Type
- Yeshiva
- Location
- Moshav Naveh, Chevel Chalutza
- Head of the mechina
- Rav Reei Peretz
- Number of students
- Not published on the program's website. Ask the program.
- Tuition
- Not published on the program's website. Ask the program.
- College credit
- Not published on the program's website. Ask the program.
- Housing and meals
- The site says overseas students live, study and volunteer in the mechina together with Israeli students their age; it gives no dorm details.
- Tracks and options
- Overseas Program (integrated with the Israeli mechina)
- Daily Hebrew classes
- IDF preparation
See it for yourself
The yeshiva's own videos. Each one plays from YouTube only when you press Play. We don't copy photos from the yeshiva's website, so their own pages are linked instead.
Atzmona-Otzem!
Plays from YouTube, which will see your device's internet address and may set cookies.
Otzem
Plays from YouTube, which will see your device's internet address and may set cookies.
Their pages elsewhere
Linked from the yeshiva's own website.
The year in detail
As their own website describes it. A missing heading means their site didn't say.
- Founded
- The Hebrew mechina page says Rav Rafi Peretz founded the mechina in 5752 (1991) in Atzmona in Gush Katif; the English overseas page gives 1993. After the 2005 disengagement it spent five years at Moshav Yated, and in 2010 it moved to its permanent home in Moshav Naveh. Rabbi Yaron Levy founded the overseas program in 5774 [2014].
- Learning and the daily schedule
- Students start the year in a separate class and move gradually, at a pace fitted to each student, into the regular classes and activities of the mechina. Daily Hebrew classes aim to let students take full part in the Hebrew program. Learning covers Talmud with Rishonim and Acharonim, classic Jewish philosophy, Mishna and Halacha, plus lectures, seminars and meetings with figures from Israeli science, politics, military life and philosophy.
- Trips
- Field trips and fact-finding missions throughout the country link what is learned in the beit midrash with the land.
- After the year
- Many students enlist in the IDF after the mechina, in any unit, alone or as a group, through Mahal or as new immigrants. The rabbis give guidance before service and the mechina keeps in contact during it; the site says about 600 Otzem graduates are serving in the IDF at any time. The Hebrew page says a home for lone soldiers is planned on the mechina grounds for program graduates serving in the IDF.
- Also on their site
- The overseas page carries English Torah lessons on the weekly parsha by Rabbi Yaron Levy. The Otzem institutions also include a beit midrash for army graduates, a virtual beit midrash and Midreshet Rina for women in nearby Shlomit.
- Named on their site
- Rabbi Yaron Levy - Head of the overseas program (founded it in 5774 [2014])
- Rav Gilad Dror - Shana Alef Ra"m, overseas program
- Rav Reei Peretz - Head of the mechina
- Rav Rafi Peretz - Founder of the mechina
Applying
How they take applications
The site's Program payment page takes application, registration and tuition fees online; it lists no amounts. Their admissions page (opens in a new tab).
The shared application
This yeshiva is listed on the Joint Yeshiva Application (opens in a new tab), one form that many Israel yeshivas share. When we checked on October 22, 2026, its school list gave the deadline as January 15, 2027 (for the 2027-28 year). Its home page still showed last season's wording, so confirm the date on the site.
Keep track
Add it to your application tracker, see the usual application timeline, or compare it with other yeshivas.
Where it is
On their website: Moshav Naveh, Chevel Chalutza
See it on the map
The map loads its pictures from OpenStreetMap, a free public map. When it loads, OpenStreetMap sees your device's internet address. Everything on the map is also written out on this page.
Approximate: the pin marks the neighborhood, village or campus their website names, not an exact building.
Open this spot in Google Maps (opens in a new tab) · See every yeshiva on the map
Nearby
Straight-line distances, to give a sense of the area. Roads are longer.
- Ben Gurion Airport107.1 km · 66.5 mi
Yeshivas closest to it
- Mechinat Ruach HaNegev36.4 km · 22.6 mi
- Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh81.9 km · 50.9 mi
- Yeshivat Lev HaTorah87.4 km · 54.3 mi
- The Breslov Yeshiva (Yeshivas Uvacharta Bachaim)87.7 km · 54.5 mi
Where the details above come from
Read on otzem.org.il on October 23, 2026:
Where this information comes from
Everything on this page was taken from the program's own website and last checked on October 23, 2026. Details change, so confirm with the program before you rely on them. The photo shows Negev Desert, not the program or its campus.
- https://otzem.org.il/overseas-program/
- https://otzem.org.il/%d7%aa%d7%95%d7%9b%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%97%d7%95%d7%9c/
- https://otzem.org.il/%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%9b%d7%99%d7%a0%d7%94/
- https://otzem.org.il/overseas-program-payment/
- https://otzem.org.il/
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